Tag-feeding and forming machine



Jan. 15, 1935.

C. G. MORTIMER TAG FEEDING AND FORMING MACHINE Original Filed June 19, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS Jan. 15, 1935. c. G. MORTIMER 1,987,966

TAG FEEDING AND FORMING MACHINE Original Filed June 19, 1931 4 she t -sh t 2 INVENTQR ORNEY Jab. 15, 1935. c. e. MORTIMER 1,987,966

TAG FEEDING AND FORMING MACHINE Original Filed June 19, 1931 4 Sheets Sheet 3 Jan. 15, 1935;

c. e. MORTIMER TAG FEEDING AND FORMING MACHINE Original Filed June 19, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ATTORNEY-9 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,987,966 TAG-FEEDING AND FORMING MACHINE Charles G. Mortimer, Glen Ridge, N. .L, assignor to Joseph H. Lynch, Asbury Park, N. J.

Original application June 19, 1931, Serial No. 545,424, now Patent No. 1,969,898,dated August 14, 1934. Divided and this application July 27, 1932, Serial No. 625,165,

Claims. (01. 153-2) The object of the present invention is a main open, partly closed, and completely closed chine for feeding and forming tags, especially position. tags for marking laundry, and as here shown'it Figure '10 shows the ribbon and the line of forms part of a machine whioh'forms tags from severing of a tag therefrom, as caused when 5 a continuous ribbon of suitable material, makes the punch and die are in the position shown 5 suitable identifying marks thereon and applies in Figure 8. I the tag to the articles to be identified, a ma- Figure 11 shows the tag completed by the chine having these general objects being the closing of the punch and die, as illustrated in subject of my application for patent'filed June Figure 9, the tag being now in condition to 19, 1931, Serial No. 545,424, Patent No. 1,969,898, receive identifying marks. 10 dated August 14, 1934, of which the present ap- Figure 12 is a detail view looking from the plication is a division, I left of Figure 1 illustrating means of operating The present invention comprises means for the gripping fingers. feedi th ribbon, means for severing a p Figure 13 is a detail rear elevation of said 15 to form a tag, means for forming the tag and mechanism, partly in section. 15

m a s p r i g therewith for Carrying the Figure 14 is a sectional view, taken in the optag therefrom, so as to make Way for the next posite direction to that used in Figure 12, of bb feeding Operation. Sueh Carrying means other portions of said mechanism, the plane of being, a shown, dapt d to h t tag and section being indicated by the line 14-14, Figcarry it to points where it may be subjected to me 13 20 further operations. The invention further com- Figure 15 is a View t of t mechanism prises other related improvements which will be Shown in Figure 13 l t t t means for first described with reference to the accompanyt t n t gripping fingers, 1 ing drawings then out the Claims. is a iew gripping fin While illustrated as a part of a complete magem open, and 1 a chine of the character described in my afore- Figure 1 s a w of the d of the upper said application, it is not intended'that the inng finger. vention as herein set forth and claimed .is limited 1 A considerable part of a complete machine to that use, 'for it is susceptible of a-wider apfor f i marking a amxing tags to pieces plieation- T 1 of laundry is illustrated, for further description In seiddmwmgseof which reference may be had to my original Figure 1 is a real V1eW Partly bFoken away application of which this is a division. The

of a machine for'the formmgqma'rklvng a present description will be confined to so much plying of tags to articles for mtance @9095 of thereof as directly cooperates with the mechau y. h h by W of 1 11uStmt1n{ the nism for feeding, forming and'removing a tag, 35 present inventlon apphed- 3 which forms thessubjectof the present appli- Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view partly broken cation away of t Same; taken on the line 2-2, Fi 1 is the metal ribbon from which the tags are llre 1, the direction iPdicated by arrows made. The metal ribbon comes from a magazine 40 Figure 3 is an 'elevaiwnm Futtmg a roll of conventional design, not shown. This 40 forming punch and ale" the1r,'pemtmg ribbon is provided with perforations distributed mechanism, taken from the right side :of the as per Figure 10 the mechanical purpose of machine illustrated in.. Figure 1; thedies are which win be apparent when the individual Shown Open erations are described. Besides these mechani- Figure 4 is Simflar Y m the-Same cal reasons for providing such perforations, I 45 direction as Figure 2; the dies are shown closed. provide these apertures to allow a fre flow f Figure 5 is a planfview 0f water through the tags and through part of th dies, taken 1 0n the. line. Figure in the laundry pieces to which the tags are applied, a direction indicated y the arrows, the dies and around which they are folded, as described being open. in my original application. This secures a thor- 50 Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line ough t t of th working li d d th Figure 4, n the direction in d y the laundry pieces also in the neighborhood of and arrows; I between the folds of the tag. The ribbon runs Figures 7, 8 and 9 are side views of the conover an idler 2, which acts as a guide and secures tiguous parts of the punch anddie, respectively the contact,of'the ribbon with the feed roll 3 55 over a long part of its circumference, and also secures engagement with more than one pair of the propelling pins 4 on the feed roller. These pins engage with the outermost perforations 5 on both sides of the ribbon.

From this feed roller the ribbon is forced through straightening rolls 6, 7 and 8, more clearly shown on Figures 2, 3 and 4. Roll 6 can be adjusted with respect to its distance from the pair of rollers '7 and 8. This is done by adjustment screw 9. When a new ribbonis inserted, it is convenient to be in a position to increase this clearance. h h h After leaving the straightening rolls, the ribbon enters the die device 10 through slot 11 acting as a guide. goes when a new ribbon is inserted.-

An electric circuit including a starting button 13 and suitable intermediate mechanism is employed to couple the drive wheel 33 with the operating shaft 36, which coupling is automatically disengaged when the shaft 36 has completed a revolution, and the shaft 36 is connected by eccentric 54, rod 55a. and crank 56 to the oscillating member of a one-way ratchet-toothed clutch 61 on shaft 59, as more fully described in my original application, so that during ,a part of each revolution of shaft 36, the feed roller 3 is turned sufficiently to feed the ribbon the length of one tag. H

At the end of shaft 59, a bevel gear 65 is keyed, which drives the intermediate bevel member 66, 66a, shown on Figures 1 and 2. This member is supported by support 67 and drives the bevel gear 68. Bevel gear 68runs loosely on shaft 36, by which it is supported. An axial movement of 68 may be prevented by suitable collars on the shaft, not shown. The bevel gear 68 carries three arms 69 which are equally spaced around its circumference.

It will be apparent from Figure 13 that these armscarry each a pair of gripping fingers '70 and '71. The gripping fingers are connected to the arm 69 by connecting lever arms 72 which are rotatable around pin 73. The lever arms72 each carries a .toe 751 which rests on a pin=head 75 of pins 76. A definite engagement of the toes with the pin -heads-is secured by springs 77-. -A movement of the pins '16, on Figure 13, to the right causes a movement of the lever arms and the gripping fingers in the plane of the centerline of shaft 36. The gripping fingers '70 and '71 are adapted to hold one tag and transport it to the positions where the individual operations of making, identifying and applying the tag take place. These positions. will be henceforth called stations. Station I is the station where the tag is cut and shaped; at station II the identification marks are applied to the tag; at station III the tag is applied to the material to be identified.

The gripping fingers are shown in'Figures' l6 and 17. Finger 70 carries pins 78 which are spaced apart so that they fit into the holes 5 of the ribbon, indicated by lead lines at the left of the ribbon on Figure 10. The gripping finger 71 has holes 78a corresponding to the pins '78 so that when the two fingers are in closed position, the tag is accurately secured in proper position. The fingers '70 and 71 are kept in closed position by the spring'79. Finger 70, however, has an extension which carries a contact roller 80. Whenever this contact roller rolls over a camlike surface of suitable shape, the fingers are opened. The fingers are-gearedtogether, as

This is as far as the ribbon shown, by teeth 81 so that both take part in this opening motion.

After the ribbon is fed into the machine, as previously described, straightened out, and put into the guide slot 11, the machine will be started by pressing the starting button. At each operation of the starting button, the ribbon will proceed for the length of one tag further into the machine, and will at, for instance, the third operation, be sufficiently advanced so that a complete tag can be cut by the die members 82 and 99, shown in Figures 3 to 9.

During the operation of the last feed motion which takes place, as aforesaid, during the second and third quarter of the turn of the main shaft 36, the arm '72 approaching the die is held in a swung-out position so as to keep clear of the die. This is accomplished by a stationary track 83a against which the pin '76 abuts. On passing beyond track 83a, the pin 76 releases the arm 72 to the action of spring '77, which throws the gripping fingers into the opening provided for them in the dies 82 and 99 just before or after the gripping fingers are opened preparatory to grippingthe ribbon.

Just; before the die members 82 and 99 are closed, the contact roll runs up on a shoe 91, shown on Figure 12, which causes the fingers '70 and 71 to open. The shoe 91 is attached to the shoe holder 92 which is pivoted at 93 to the stationary support 94. The shoe holder 92 has an extension provided with a cam follower 95 which normally rides on cam plate 96 which holds cams 97- and 98. Cam plate 96 is keyed to shaft 36. The shoe 91 is forced outwardly with regard to the shaft 36 as long as 95 rides on 97, and by this outward movement, the fingers '70 and '71 are kept open until the cam plate 96 has revolved far enough to allow cam follower 95 to drop down from the cam 97. At this moment, the fingers are closed. The positions of the shoe 91 and cam 97 are so timed with respect to the operation of the die members 82 and 99, that this closing of the fingers and, gripping of the ribbon takes place just before the die closes in order to cut and shape a tag.

Figures 3 to 9 show the die in detail. The die consists of two members 82 and 99 dove-tailed in a guide groove in die block 111. Figure '7 shows the die in full open position with the ribbon inserted ready to be cut and shaped. The face of the male die 82 has a projecting part 82a to enter a depression 99a in the face of the female die 99. At the edge of the depression 99a toward the ribbon guide 11, and forming a downward extension of the body of the die 99 to which it is fastened, is a female cutting member 104 with which cooperates the male cutting member 100, mounted by spring plunger 100a on die member 82 so that it is adjacent to the projecting part 8241 of member 82 and normally above the surface of such part as shown in Figure '7. The cutter members 100 and 104 are serrated so as to intermesh on their meeting faces. When the dies are brought together, in a manner to be presently explained, until they reach the position shown in Figure 8, the tag is first cut from the ribbon, as shown in Figure 10, and the male cutter carries the tag edgeinto contact with the face of the die member 99 and holds it there, as shown in Figure 8, while the die members continue to approach, the male'cutter 100 receding against the resistance of spring plunger 100a as the male portion of die member 82 enters the depression of 'die member 99., causing the tag to be bent downward on transverse lines adjacent to its serrated edges. At the same time, grooves 101, 102 and 103 on die member 99, coacting with corresponding ridges on the face of die member 82, raise reenforcing ribs 101a, 102a, 103a on the tag and the tag is thus cut off and shaped, as shown in Figure 11, as the dies reach the position shown in Figure 9. The openings 105 on the die 99 and 106 on the punch 82 are to accommodate the gripping fingers 70 and '71, which enter therein, as already described, when the jaws of the die are in the open position shown in Figure 7.

Figures 3, 4, and show the operation of the die. On shaft 36 is keyed a camplate 107 carrying cam 108. Upon turning the shaft 36, this cam moves cam follower 109 at the end of arm 115, which is mounted on disc member 110. This disc member 110 rotates freely in a recess of dieblock 111 and is held within this recess by the ring member 112. The disc 110 is provided with two eccentric slots. The die member 82 carries pin 113 and the die member 99, the pin 114, each occupying one of said slots. It is obvious that upon revolving of shaft 36 in the direction indicated by the arrow, Figure 3, the connecting arm 115 is turned and the die members 82 and 99 will be drawn together. As soon as the cam follower 109 rides over the cam 108, the die members 82 and 99 will be pulled apart by means of spring member 116a (which is fastened on one end to the die-block 111, and on the other end to the arm 115), and the die is ready again to receive the ribbon. The die block has a gate or channel 111a to permit the passage of gripping fingers and tag carried thereby.

The finishing of the tag within the die was the last action brought about during the first 90 of the turn of shaft 36. Upon completion of this 90 turn, the previously mentioned ratchet coupling 58 and 5'7 is engaged and further ribbon is brought into the machine by the revolution of feed roller 3. While the shaft 36 continues to revolve for 180, the transport arms 72 with gripping fingers 70 and 71 are moved 120. By

nism supported thereon having means for severing and for forming the severed tag, means for operating the punch and die mechanism alternately with the operation of the ribbon-feeding mechanism, means for gripping the tag and means operative when the punch and die mechanism is open for moving the gripping means and tag carried thereby therefrom.

2. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1 in which the punch and die mechanism has passages in the meeting faces of the punch and die to permit the entry of the gripping means.

3. Mechanism as set forth in claim 1 in which the punch and die supporting block has a gate in line with the meeting faces of the punch and die to permit passage of the gripping means and tag.

4. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of intermittently operated ribbon feed mechanism, punch and die means for severing a tag from the ribbon, and bending its ends, and means for gripping and removing the formed tag from the punch and die.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of reciprocable die members having corresponding male and female parts for bending of the respective die members to cut a tag from the tag ribbon immediately in advance of the bending of the tag by the male and female parts of the die members.

CHARLES G. MORTIMER. 

